yakhchal

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian یَخْچَال (yaxčāl, literally “ice pit”).

noun

  1. A type of icehouse, built mainly in Persia (present-day Iran), that functions as an evaporative cooler, having a domed shape above ground and a subterranean storage space.“Furthermore, constructions such as the Yakhchal and Abanbar, which were built exclusively to stock water, had to have direct access to water courses.”